10.I am a dance—Play up, there! the fit is whirling
me fast!
11.I am the ever-laughing—it is new moon and twilight,
I see the hiding of douceurs—I see nimble ghosts
whichever way I look,
Cache, and cache again, deep in the ground and sea,
and where it is neither ground or sea.
12.Well do they do their jobs, those journeymen divine,
Only from me can they hide nothing, and would not
if they could,
I reckon I am their boss, and they make me a pet
besides,
And surround me and lead me, and run ahead when
I walk,
To lift their cunning covers, to signify me with
stretched arms, and resume the way;
Onward we move! a gay gang of blackguards! with
mirth-shouting music and wild-flapping pennants
of joy!
13.I am the actor, the actress, the voter, the politician,
The emigrant and the exile, the criminal that stood
in the box,
He who has been famous, and he who shall be famous
after to-day,
The stammerer, the well-formed person, the wasted
or feeble person.
14.I am she who adorned herself and folded her hair
expectantly,
My truant lover has come, and it is dark.
Page:Leaves of Grass (1860).djvu/436
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This page has been validated.
428
Leaves of Grass.